RIJ K9

29/10/2026

This breakdown is worth your time if you’re struggling with your dog’s behaviour 👇🏻

I have to say, the resistance to seeing and acknowledging reality will never not be amusing.

Any trainer who’s not soft, emotionally out of balance, and permissive themselves knows precisely what I’m talking about.

Us trainers who deal in reality spend at least as much time, if not more, working to encourage owners to dig deeper and to develop the emotional skills to feel comfortable and believable being more firm and assertive… and less like pushover ninnies.

And while this may sound harsh, I share it not to shame, but to enlighten. Because 99% of behavior issues are the direct result of the owner’s consistent daily presentation, and not a direct result of a lack of complex training protocols and tools.

Dogs who know there are firm, non-negotiable rules, and predictable, consistent, and valuable consequences—strangely almost never develop behavior issues.

I mean, if you really give what I just shared some thought, it should be quite the wake-up call if you’re struggling.

And lastly, we see the same exact pattern with trainers who exhibit the same personality and temperament qualities as the weak owners described above. They mysteriously, and consistently, also have problem dogs… often quite severe, and of course they never manage to totally resolve the issues. They avoid, manage, make excuses, and medicate. And they will recommend the same for you and your dog.

I’ll keep saying this until I’m blue in the face. Dogs with firm, fair, and fun owners, rarely have behavior issues. You can hate this, ignore this, and rationalize this, but reality just keeps doing reality.

TLDR, at the foundation of the current deluge of behavioral issues, it’s an emotional “software” problem, not a fancy training problem.

27/10/2026

“What do you feed your dog? His coat is so silky!”

That’s a question we get at least a couple of times a week 😅

I’ve just restocked Rocky’s dedicated chest freezer full of raw food from Lay Down the Raw

These are 1.3 kg blocks, he gets up to 1kg per day in one large meal, saves on mess and extra washing up, and keeps him lean and healthy.

Some days I forget to defrost his food. So on those days he gets a tin of basic dog food from the supermarket, supplemented with a tin of sardines and a couple of raw eggs.

I think he eats better than I do 😂

What do you feed your dog?

26/10/2026

Update on Winnie the Staffy who I featured on the page last week, she’s now getting out for pack walks to increase her exposure to and tolerance of others dogs. Great to see, this is just what her owner Steve wanted to achieve.

23/10/2026

Choose reality based training, not emotion based fluff.

But, but, but… they didn’t deliver the promised results!

You mean like the folks who promised you 6-Pack abs in 30 days eating whatever you want? Or the Nigerian prince who just needs your financial details in order to send you a fortune? Or “Doctors hate this one trick… but the results are life changing!”? Or “Make $20,000 from home, no experience required, secret system, easy income!”?

At some point you have to be responsible for your own decisions… and your own willingness to choose appealing delusional (and manipulative) promises, over less appealing reality-based promises.

I’m sorry. I’ve heard every excuse about the Force-Free/Positive-Only marketing being so persuasive. “It looked and sounded so convincing!”

Ummmm, yeah, that’s precisely the point of marketing.

But here’s the thing underneath all of it that really got you: It also sounded emotionally soft, sweet, easy, and comfortable.

They sold you on what you wanted to be sold.

Dog training results which don’t require anything that aligns with reality.

You can just ignore the bad and reward the good—and that pulling, that reactivity, that off-leash reliability, that resource guarding, that separation anxiety, that fear, that aggression… it’ll all be resolved.

You never have to use tools that enable you to communicate properly. You never have to be the heavy who punishes dangerous or problematic behavior. You never have to learn to be as believable in your discipline as you are in your affection. You never have to learn to adjust your own emotions to best serve your dog. You never have to become an actual leader in your home.

No. You never have to do any of the yucky feeling stuff—but you’ll get all of the amazing, rewarding, enjoyable, fun stuff.

I’m sorry, but if you’re choosing Force-Free or Positive-Only training, and then are upset about the results you don’t get from training methodologies which obviously have zero alignment with the principles of reality—you’re getting precisely what you deserve.

Yes, I know your vet agrees with them. Yes, I know your Google searches agree with them. Yes I know TikTok agrees with them. Yes, I know they present bu****it studies and emotionally compelling taking points.

And? At the foundation of ALL OF IT, regardless of who endorses it, or what is said, YOU have to be responsible for analyzing what does and doesn’t align with your own clearly understood experiences with reality. And if you choose to buy a training approach that clearly, regardless of the window dressing, simply doesn’t obey the laws of reality—the stuff you know in your bones to be true or not—then that decision isn’t the fault of the Force-Free or the Positive-Only cultist doing their best to persuade you to ignore your own mind and experiences, that fault is squarely your own.

23/10/2026

If you’re struggling with your dog’s recall and focus on you during your walks, read this 👇

23/10/2026

Perfectly put.

23/10/2026

My dog is the best dog in the world. There are many like him, but none "quite" like him. I'd take a bullet for him, and if he understood what the concept of a "bullet" was and what it meant, he'd take one for me too. But at the end of the day, he is a dog, and I am a human. We need each other, but I am the boss. He likes it that way, he needs it that way.

Your dog needs this too. From you.

22/10/2026

What sort (temperament) of dog do you want, and what sort of walks do you want to be having?

I think, or at least I hope, you want this.

Complete off lead freedom, complete trust on both sides.

21/10/2026

To the person who messaged me this morning saying they didn't want to use my advice on their highly reactive dog, who is literally dragging them down the street, and is a (serious) accident waiting to happen...

18/10/2026

Third one to one session with Winnie yesterday to help her owner with her reactivity to other dogs.

Over the three sessions I showed her owner what to look out for and gently correct in the build up to a reaction. Now it’s over to them to join some local group dog walks and build up her exposure and tolerance to other dogs.